Disney closes doors on Vancouver Pixar branch after just three years

Mayor Gregor Robertson Announcing the opening of the new Pixar facility in Vancouver

Photograph by: Ward Perrin
, PNG

It opened just three years ago amid a flurry of expectation that Vancouver was finally luring some of the top animation companies, but now Pixar Animation Studios has shut its branch in Gastown, causing nearly 100 employees to lose their jobs.

Chris Wiggum, Pixar’s senior publicist, said Wednesday that the company is consolidating business at its main studio in Emeryville, California.

“The team at Pixar Canada is incredibly talented and we are so proud of the excellent work we have produced there,” he said, in an emailed statement to The Vancouver Sun.

“However, as we look at the creative and business needs of our studio, we’ve made the decision to refocus our efforts and resources under one roof in Emeryville and will be closing the studio in Vancouver.”

B.C. Jobs Minister Shirley Bond said she was sad to see Pixar leave, but cautioned against citing the departure as a reflection of the entire industry.

“It is disappointing any time a company like Pixar closes its doors, she said. “But I think it is telling that the day after the Pixar closure, we have the B.C. success story — Hootsuite — holding a job fair for 100 new high-tech jobs.”

The Vancouver-based social media analytics company is hiring 100 extra staff after it announced in August that it had raised $165 million US in venture capital financing.

While Wiggum wouldn’t provide an exact number of employees laid off at Pixar, he said it was fewer than 100. Amir Nasrabadi, the studio’s general manager, told The Sun in 2009, shortly before Pixar set up shop here, that between 75 and 100 people would work at the Vancouver location, most of them from local ranks.

Wiggum said Pixar Canada will cease operations immediately. He would not comment on speculation that Pixar Canada could open shop elsewhere in Canada in provinces with better tax incentives such as Ontario and Quebec, nor would he say whether the cost of operating in Vancouver was part of the reason Pixar is leaving B.C.

Pixar’s departure follows several other high profile companies shutting their doors. Last year, video game giant Rockstar closed its Vancouver branch in favour of moving operations to Toronto, just weeks after Radical Entertainment video games shut its doors, laying off about 90 employees.

But Bond noted that Pixar’s decision to leave was not linked to B.C.’s tax incentives for the film, video game and television sectors.

“From what I understand the decision was made in L.A. and is tied to the company’s overall business strategy rather than the business climate here in B.C.”

She also responded Wednesday to a report in Variety that suggested Pixar was leaving because of cuts to tax incentives in B.C.

“Let’s be clear: the province has made no cuts to tax credits,” said Bond.

She said the film and television industry received an estimated $350 million from B.C. taxpayers in 2012/13, with an additional $26 million provided to the interactive digital media sector.

“It’s my hope that we will see Pixar return when they get new productions in the pipeline — and we’d be happy to welcome them back,” said Bond.

Pixar, which was bought by Disney in 2006 and is the force behind box office hits Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc., opened the Gastown studio in the spring of 2010. Staff at the 20,000-square-foot facility worked on Pixar’s short computer-generated animations, which then went to theatres and ancillary markets like television, DVD compilations and the Internet.

The team at Pixar Canada produced a slate of short films, including Air Mater, Small Fry and Partysaurus Rex.

Pixar’s arrival in Vancouver was heralded by Mayor Gregor Robertson as a vindication of his efforts to lure digital and incubator technology companies to the city.

He was in New York Wednesday at a conference and unavailable for an interview, but he emailed a statement to The Sun saying he was disappointed to hear that Pixar is closing. Robertson said the closure serves as an important reminder to the province to keep supporting job creation in Vancouver’s fast-growing digital media sector.

“Vancouver has now joined London and Los Angeles as one of the world’s three largest clusters for digital media investment, with our city’s $3 billion digital media sector now supporting over 24,000 jobs,” he said, in the email.

“I’m bullish on our creative economy because we’ve got exciting growth across the board ... Our city is increasingly recognized as one of the world’s leading cities for new start-ups, and I know that growth is only going to continue as we build on the success of Vancouver’s Economic Action strategy.”

Coun. Raymond Louie, the chair of the city’s finance committee, said he was sorry to see Pixar close up, but not really concerned about the loss.

“Our efforts continue to attract incubator businesses,” he said, adding that he didn’t think Pixar’s departure was a knock on Vancouver’s effort to lure digital-based businesses.

“I believe it is part of the regular business cycle of companies making decisions that better suit their needs,” he said. “There have been a number of companies that have relocated into Vancouver over the past number of years because they see the city as fine location for technology and incubation of their companies.”

As an example, he also pointed to Hootesuite’s decision to hire 100 employees to help with its Twitter application program.

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